Does Click Attribution Need Outbound Clicks?

Am I overthinking this?

Someone asked me a question about the click attribute recently, and after going down the rabbit hole of official Meta documentation, I can’t answer it with 100% certainty.

Let’s discuss…

Question

As you know, Meta uses the click and view attribute, so conversions are automatically reported that occur within 7 days of a click or 1 day of viewing your ad.

But do those clicks need to be on a link to your website?

Thinking, I said yes. That seems obvious. But then I checked the Meta documentation for confirmation and I can’t find anything confirming.

Meta Text in Attribution

Here is a short Meta description of the click attribute:

Click attribute: Someone clicked on your ad and took an action.

Of course, it’s technically called “click-through attribution,” so that should mean… going to your website, right??

Anyway, I needed that written clearly. It should say it somewhere. But, I’ve gone through page after page of Meta documentation, and nothing mentions clicking through to your website.

What It Can Say

It sounds obvious, but it’s confusing. Meta doesn’t say that ONLY including clicks on links to your website. It does not list the types of clicks that count. And it doesn’t mean that it includes all types of clicks.

If we are going to talk literally based on this information, it may mean clicking on the video to watch it without clicking the CTA button on your website. If that person converts within the attribute setting, that will be considered a click conversion.

Until now, I would have considered that to be a change in perspective, thinking that they change during the day. If not, that breaks my brain a little.

I’m not willing to change my interpretation at this time, but it would be helpful if Meta provided more specific language.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Post your answer in comment below.